Former Employee Alleges VW Destroyed Diesel Docs

Joe Lorio

Mar 15, 2016

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

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A Volkswagen employee at the company’s office of general counsel in Michigan claims in a lawsuit that VW intentionally destroyed documents related to the diesel-emissions-cheating scandal and that he was fired for refusing to participate.

As reported by Automotive News, the lawsuit was filed earlier this month in Michigan by a former employee, Daniel Donovan, who was fired in early December. The suit alleges that VW deleted data for three days in September, after the company was notified that vehicles equipped with its 2.0-liter TDI engines violated U.S. emissions standards. It also claims the company’s IT department also failed to preserve backup disks. Donovan, who was responsible for information management and product liability cases, says in his lawsuit that he reported the deletions to his supervisor.

In a statement, Volkswagen said, “We believe his claim of wrongful termination is without merit.”

If VW intentionally destroyed evidence, it opens the company up to further legal troubles. It also complicates negotiations between Volkswagen and government regulators as to the fixes and the fines to which VW will be subject for the emissions cheating.